Bishops call for prayers, support for peace in Holy Land

LAS CRUCES - An international council of Catholic bishops, including Las Cruces Catholic Diocese Bishop Oscar Cantú, continues to call for an end to longtime hostilities in the Middle East.

The Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land, also known as the Holy Land Coordination, concluded its annual pilgrimage Wednesday to the Holy Land. The bishops are asking for prayers, action and support for peace, according to a news release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The bishops visited communities in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The coordination has conducted annual pilgrimages to the Holy Land every January since 1998. The pilgrimage enables the bishops to see people and conditions of the region, and how it has been affected.

Since June 1967, war has been waged between Palestine and Israel in an area that includes the West Bank of the Jordan River, East Jerusalem and Gaza. That area is often more commonly known as the Holy Land.

"The occupation has allowed both Israelis and Palestinians to see and treat each other as enemies,” Cantú said. “After 50 years, this has worn down their spirits and dampened their hopes. Walking through the city of Hebron for 50 minutes, the tension was palpable. I can't imagine living with these tensions for 50 years. Both Palestinians and Israelis are impacted."

Upon completion of the pilgrimage, the Holy Land Coordination issued a statement asking for action.

“As Bishops we implore Christians in our home countries to recognize our own responsibility for prayer, awareness and action,” said a portion of the statement, which was signed by bishops of 14 countries who were on the pilgrimage. “So many people in the Holy Land have spent their entire lives under occupation, with its polarizing social segregation, yet still profess hope and strive for reconciliation. Now, more than ever, they deserve our solidarity.”